In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of finding rest in God. He highlights that effective evangelism is built on a foundation of rest, which may seem foolish to the natural man. The enemy fiercely fights against this knowledge, causing spiritual slumber and discouragement. The preacher shares personal experiences of dryness and loss of compassion, but also the joy of leading others to Christ. The sermon encourages listeners to strive to enter into God's rest and rely on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. I'm going to speak to you this morning, one message that God's been speaking to me for a month. It's called The Coming Revival of the Joshua Priesthood. If you'll go to Zechariah, please, in the Old Testament, find the book of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament, and go back just two short books and you'll be in Zechariah, chapter 3. Now while we're finding that, I'd like you to pray with me, please, if you will. Father, I thank you. Lord, this is a time when you are going to open your heart to us. Lord, what I'm about to share has to come by revelation. I can't reason this, and there's no heart that can reason it. It's got to be given of you, Jesus. I'm asking you, Holy Spirit, to come, and I'm asking you to breathe on this congregation. I ask especially for those who stand and seem to be without strength. I ask you, as Ezekiel did, to come and breathe on everyone who wants to walk with God but has not yet found the strength. Father, I thank you for this. I thank you that you'll give me the ability to speak this very clearly and very simply as you've spoken it to my heart. And I thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Zechariah, chapter 3, the coming revival of the Joshua priesthood. And he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake to those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused an iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with chains of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed them with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood by. And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth my servant, the branch. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the engravings thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall you call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. Now, I want to speak this morning specifically to those who are discouraged. I want to speak to the spiritually discouraged. You are among those who have wanted to walk with God. You set out to build, or at least to be a temple for the glory of God. Now, in the Old Testament, of course, they came back out of captivity. The people of God were in captivity and they had been chastised by a nation called Babylon because they had dealt very carelessly with the things of God. But the Lord will never forsake his people. And after a season of correction, they were released sovereignly by a decree of God. They moved upon the heart of a king and they came back into the land. And I'm sure they came back with incredible enthusiasm, wanting to build this physical temple. Now, they knew the former temple was the temple that Solomon had built where the glory of God had once come. And they must have each have had this anticipation of the return of this kind of glory. But the glory was about to come in a way that they were not aware of. Because the glory that was about to visit this temple, and they couldn't really have foreseen it, was Jesus Christ himself. This was the temple that Christ was going to come to. Now, this is a type, in a sense, of you and I. When we came to Christ, we set out as it is to become the temple of the Lord. A lot of work needed to be done. If you're anything like I am and was when you came to the Lord, there's just a lot of baggage, a lot of rubbish in your life. It had to be moved out of the way. And there had to be a place prepared for God to dwell. And you had the cry, I'm sure, that Joshua the high priest had. Coming back out of Babylon, there must have been an incredible zeal. He must have been filled with faith and promise, just like you were the day that you came to Christ. You had a true conversion. And I believe the evidence of a true conversion is not only a sorrow for your sin, but there is an infusion of faith. And the promises of God come into your life. And you begin to see impossibility as possible. You have this momentary, as it is panoramic view of your own future. And you begin to understand that I'm going to go somewhere and become something that only God could make me into. And in this temple, in this physical temple, the Lord said he was going to dwell and he's going to be glorified here. And I can see Joshua heading out, just as you and I did, full of faith and promise. Now, Joshua stands speechless before God. If you look at this particular chapter in Zechariah, he has absolutely nothing to say. He's standing before the throne of God. He is speechless and that's where very, very many of those even here this morning, that's where you are right now. And the accuser in this case, having brought the work and ministry of your life to a standstill. And there are people here, I know I'm speaking in the spirit this morning. Your life, the ministry, the temple as it is, has been brought to a standstill. That's what happened in Joshua's generation. People came back with great zeal and they were going to rebuild this place of God's glory. But there was opposition, not only rubble, but there was opposition. Their enemies came against them with fury that they hadn't anticipated. Paul says, there's fears without and fighting within. Come against this rebuilding of this temple that will glorify God. And they began to be, by the fierceness, the ferocity of this opposition, the work was brought to a standstill. And here is Joshua, just like the people. Many of the people, when you read Haggai and Zechariah, they'd really gone home. They gave up. They wanted to be this temple that so brought again the glory of God, but they just gave up. There's just so much opposition. And they came to church, no doubt. They went and they congregated around the scriptures and said their prayers and did their religious duty. But they'd really given up on rebuilding this place where the glory of God would return. And they went home and everybody, their theology probably took a twist. And everybody began saying, well, it's God's will, of course, that we should all have nice homes and cars or whatever. Of course, they didn't have them in those days, but we should all have a nice horse or something like that. And they all began to work on their own houses. And, of course, this became, in their thinking, the evidence of the blessing of God, while the work of God, the temple of God was at a standstill. Now, I think that history is repeating itself. I think we've come through a 20 year period where we're probably at virtually the same place they were at. And now we see Joshua feeling completely unclean and defeated, standing before the throne of God. He has nothing to say whatsoever. Now, Joshua knew, just as you and I know, and he had read the scriptures, 2 Chronicles, chapter 6 and 7, of the first temple that was built and dedicated by Solomon. He would have known because God came and with his manifested presence, he endorsed this dedicatory prayer that Solomon had prayed. Now, Solomon had prayed for very specific things. And God came down and with his glory and with a verbal response actually to Solomon, indicated that I've heard what you've cried. And this, yes, of course, is the place that my temple is to be. Now, I'm not going to be all inclusive here because there were a lot of things that Solomon said. But Joshua knew that the temple was to be a place where God's people were to find strength. In the New Testament, for example, the apostle Paul was a man who, in spite of his own struggles and sufferings, was a vessel, a temple through which God could flow. And the Lord God is constantly infusing strength into struggling Christians through the life of the apostle Paul. Keep in mind, now, he is the temple. We are the temple of the living God. And it's not just about personal strength, but it's in this temple, others are defined strength that they need. And Paul is the classic New Testament example of a suffering man who is not looking at his own circumstance, but the strength of God is continuing to flow through him and giving life and help and encouragement to others. Joshua knew it was a place where the underprivileged, the impoverished, and the oppressed were to find relief because Solomon had prayed these things. He knew that it was a place where the stranger was to find answers to his questions and to find relief for his need. Now, I'm speaking in a dual context. I'm speaking about the Old Testament temple, which was a physical building that people would come into and they would find help. But in the New Testament, it is no longer a physical building. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So when I'm speaking about the temple, I'm speaking about you and me individually. And then I'm speaking about us as a congregation collectively as well. He also knew that it's a place where prayer was to be made with thanksgiving and answers were to be expected. The Lord had crowned the former dedication of this temple, built under the hand of Solomon, with a promise in 2 Chronicles 7.15. He says, Now my eyes, as the Lord speaking, shall be open, my ears listening or attent to the prayer that is made in this place. God's saying, I've made it known to you that I want to be a God who answers prayer and I want the answers to be supernatural. And my eyes are open and my ears are listening now for the prayer that's going to be made in this place. And now Joshua, the high priest, stands before God. He knows that through his ministry, God's people have not been strengthened. And in fact, most of them had turned from the work of God and had become focused on themselves. But folks, I don't know if there's any greater heartache for the Christian than when you lead somebody to Christ. I've had this happen several times through the course of my life. I have good friends sometimes and you see them come to Christ excited about the things of God, wanting to be filled with the Holy Spirit, talking about living for the Lord. And then you watch this turning away begin to happen in their hearts. I led a man to the Lord one time who was healed of an incurable disease. He was actually dying. We never even talked about healing. I never prayed for his healing. But when he received Christ, he was miraculously healed. And how tragic to watch this man begin to turn away from the things of God. And all of a sudden, his family and career became more important to him than living for the Lord. I saw others do the same. And it's so hard sometimes when you're ministering. You want to be the temple of the Holy Ghost. And you see people through your life that you've... It's like the Christian who's here today. And you've so longed to win somebody to Christ. And you've sat in this church. There are churches like this. And you're motivated as it is to bring people to Christ. And finally, you get your first or second or third conversion. And you feel so happy. And you come to the house of the Lord. And you bring them in with you. And you lift your hands and you rejoice in the goodness of God that in this temple, being your body, the Holy Spirit has been recognized. He's spoken through you. And he's led others to the knowledge of who Christ is. And then you begin to watch them turn away. And you cry after them, but there's nothing you can do. There's this issue that gets into the heart that begins to turn them from God. And just like Joshua, you're standing now and you say, people have not been strengthened through my life. And those that God has used me to touch have turned away. And they've begun to focus on themselves. I see Joshua standing before the throne of God. And so little seems left within him to give. And so few are finding relief through him. Folks, I've been there. I know what this is all about. I know what it's like to stand in a pulpit and the well is dry. You've gone to the throne of God. You've dropped your bucket for living water and it's hit the dust at the bottom. And there's so little left within you to give. And so few seem to be finding relief. I've known what it's like to stand in these situations. Joshua's almost lost heart to speak to the stranger on God's behalf. Have you ever been there? When you just don't care anymore. You walk down the street, somebody's crying on a park bench. And there was a day where the compassion of God seemed to just flow naturally through your life. And now you're just passing by and say, well, that's their problem. I hope somebody comes along to give them some relief. Because you can't find the resource anymore to even care. And instead of prayer now on Thanksgiving, and Joshua knew that as the high priest, of course, he's to stand before the throne of God. And he's to intercede in his generation for the people. But he has no voice anymore. He stands speechless. And the voice now being heard at this throne at this time is the voice of the condemner. And that's why very many don't go into the prayer closet anymore. You can't go into the prayer closet. You'd like to go into the prayer closet, but there's only one voice that you're hearing. It's the voice of the condemner. And the truth is, it's not because you have failed. The condemner wants you to believe that you're to focus on your failure. You're to focus on the lack. You're to focus on what has not happened through your life and through the ministry. And how God has not been glorified, whether it's been a week, a month, or a year, or two years, or ten years in your life. The enemy is there to accuse and cause you to want to focus on these things. And the only reason Satan does this is because you are truly called of God. God's call is upon you. His hand is on you. If God's hand was on you, the condemner would go next door and work on somebody else. He wouldn't have to condemn you if God's hand wasn't on you. You are called and set apart for the work of God. You are given the resources of heaven to do what God has called you to do. Now, of course, it is possible that Joshua has employed in his theology something of his own ways in attempting to build this temple. Because in Zechariah chapter 3, there's a messenger called the angel. In verse 6, and it says, The angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua and says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, you will also judge my house and keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. So the Lord is saying, listen, you have to make a choice. Now, some people can't go into the prayer closet because there's willful sin in your life. And the Lord will plead with you. He will send a messenger just as he's doing this morning in this pulpit and say, consider your ways. If you will walk in the ways of God, if you will at least desire to walk in the ways of God, if you will want the thoughts of God and not your own thoughts, God says, I will give you your heart's desire. You will keep my charge. In other words, the things that I've called you to do, I'll give you the power to do them. You will stand and the presence of God in your life will become a judgment to those who are sitting outside of the kingdom of God. They will be convinced of their sin, of the righteousness of God in a coming day of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged. And he says in Joshua, I'll give you places to walk among these that stand by. In other words, Joshua standing before, even though he feels filthy, he's standing speechless before the throne of God. He's aware there are angelic beings all around. And the Lord says to him through this messenger, if you will choose to walk with me, Joshua, I will give you the desires of my heart will become the desires of your heart. And I will give you access to my throne, just like everyone around heaven has access to my throne. Hallelujah. At the same time that God is speaking to Joshua, the voice of God is speaking to the people. In Haggai chapter one, go back just one book to Haggai chapter one. And the Lord is speaking to the people of the nation at the same time. Verse three says, Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye to dwell in your sealed houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You've sown much and bring in little. You eat, but have not enough. You drink, but are not filled with drink. You clothe you, but there's none warm. And he that earns wages earns wages to put it in a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Now the Lord is speaking not only to the high priest, but he's speaking to the people of this time. It says, listen now, your focus is become on meat and drink and clothing and earning of wages, but nothing satisfies. Folks, there is a sign that you and I are on the wrong track. It may all seemingly be going well. You might have more food in your cupboard than most of the city. You might have nicer clothes than 95% of the population. You might have things, wages that leave most everyone in compelling in comparison. But there's something about it that doesn't satisfy. You see, because you are the temple of God. You are called to glorify God. I'm called to glorify God. This is the purpose of my life. I'm not just to appear outwardly prosperous. I am to have a prosperity that only heaven can give, which is the life of Jesus Christ within me. He says in verse 8, go up to the mountain and bring wood and build a house and I'll take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord. Go back to the mountain. I believe there's a call of God coming out to the church in this generation. Your focus on lands and houses and jobs and cars has left you dissatisfied. The Lord says go back to the mountain. Go back to Calvary. Go back to the cross. Get some wood and come and build a house and I'll be glorified in it. Hallelujah. Joshua was about to experience a type of Calvary in Zechariah chapter 3. In verse 2, the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke thee. Now this is the first voice that is heard other than the enemy's voice. He says the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. Even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now this is an amazing thing. The Lord speaks to Satan himself. This is a type of going back to the mountain. It's a type of going back to the cross. He says I rebuke you. This man may not look like much, but I remind you, Satan, that I've reached down out of heaven and became a man. And he was destined for hell because of the sin that was in him. But I plucked him out of the fire and he has become my own. And God Almighty says to Satan himself, I am committed to this man. You need to know today, brother and sister in Christ, that God in Christ is committed to you. He's not a feeble God who simply turns away when you have a bad day. He has committed himself to you. Now, Joshua, verse three, was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake to those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I've caused an iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. Now this is the cross. When we come to Christ, when we have trusted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary as sufficient payment for our sin. When we trust that what God says through Christ, that the resources of heaven, when he won his victory, became open to us. Everything that belongs to Christ now belongs to us. Paul says we are seated in him. We are partakers of his victory at the right hand of God almighty himself. That's why Satan stood at the right hand. Because the strength of God is found in Christ at the right hand of God. Satan has formed an argument against the completeness of Jesus Christ. The completeness of his cross. The completeness of our redemption. The fullness of our justification. The certainty of God's promise to change us from image to image and glory to glory. Satan has formed an argument against this completeness of Jesus Christ in our generation. But God speaks and says, Satan, the Lord rebuke you. This is my church. These are my people. I have plucked them out of the fire and they will glorify me. I have caused your iniquity to pass, he said to Joshua. Past tense. When you came to the cross of Jesus Christ, your sin was put as far away from you as the east is from the west. When Jesus said it is finished, he meant it is finished. The weight, the power, the penalty, the dominion of sin was broken. And you were brought into the power of an endless life through Jesus Christ. You became the temple of almighty God. The spirit that raised Christ from the dead came into you. And you were raised out of death and into the newness of God's life. And he says, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you and I will clothe you with the chains of clothing. Hallelujah. One is past tense, the other is future tense. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away and all things have become new. I have caused and I will clothe. If you don't remember anything I've spoken this morning, remember these two things. I have caused and I will clothe. God says I will change you. I will do a work within you that will cause people to stand back in awe. Verses 8 and 9, here's what he says. Now behold, hear now Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they are men wondered at. Now it has a dual context. It means firstly they'll be men who stand in wonderment. And secondarily, I guess you could say they will also be wondered at. They will stand beholding something that is too wonderful for natural comprehension. But as they behold this wonderful thing, they will be changed into this very image of God from glory to glory. Even as by the spirit of the Lord. They'll be wondered at. He says I'll bring forth my servant the branch. It is indisputable that this text is about Jesus Christ. He is the one being referred to. Verse 9 says behold the stone that I've laid before Joshua. Now here's what the Lord is saying. Joshua, here's what your life is going to be built upon. Here's the cornerstone. Here's the foundation stone. One stone shall be seven eyes. Now here's what he's saying. It refers clearly to the omniscience we call it. The all knowingness of God. In other words, on this foundation you will understand that God knows everything about you. Nothing is hidden. He knew about you before you even knew his name. He knows everything about you. He knows the hairs on your head. He knows the thoughts in your mind. He knows your failings. He knows your strength. He knows everything about you. But even knowing it, he says at the end of that verse, I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In one day, he said, I knew where you come from. I know your weaknesses. But I died and won a victory for you. And your sin through the sacrifice of Christ was forgiven. Hallelujah. In that day, in verse 10, He says, When you see this, when you finally understand this, when you finally know it's not according to our works of righteousness, but it's according to his grace and mercy that he has saved us. When you begin to understand that this is not a favor that we've earned, we don't put our hand to the plow to earn our salvation. We believe in the finished work that was done for us through Jesus Christ. He says, When you see this, you'll be calling your friends under the vine and under the fig tree. It'll not be do what I've done and you'll have the victory and success. No, no, no. I failed. I stood before him in filthy garments. I knew I was hopeless. But God took away the power and penalty of my sin. And he began to change me and I found a place of rest. Come, come. You'll be calling your friends. Talk about effective evangelism. I found the rest of God. I found the provision of God. I know where life is. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Ironically, you'll be calling every man to a work which is built on a foundation of rest. The natural man can't comprehend this. It's foolishness to the natural man. How do you work and rest at the same time? That's why I think it's Peter who said, Strive to enter into the rest of the Lord. If you're going to work, work for this. Work to find his rest. A place where you are simply carried by the Spirit of God. You're delivered from the voice of the condemner. Now, the enemy's power was so fiercely against this knowledge that even Zechariah seemed to be fighting a spiritual slumber. You'll see it in chapter 4 and verse 1. One of the great mistakes of any generation is to underestimate the power of the argument that the enemy brings against the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In verse 4 it says, The angel that talked with me came again, that's Zechariah who's seeing this whole vision, and waked me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. The enemy fights so hard against the knowledge that is in chapter 3 that even Zechariah who's an outsider looking in feels a spiritual slumber coming upon him. And he begins to fight. And folks, that's why even to go into the prayer closet sometimes you'll find a slumber coming on you. And you say, where is this coming from? I could go watch a football game or the news and I'd be wide awake. I could stare out my window at nothing and still be awake. But I go to pray and this slumber wants to come on me. And folks, that's when you find out that you're fighting a real enemy. But now, from verses 2 to 9, God begins to show him the secret of inexhaustible and victorious strength. And he said to me, what do you see? And I said, I've looked and behold a candlestick of all gold and a bowl upon the top of it and seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are on the top thereof. Now the typology, I'm not going to go through all of that but take it to be a type of the church. And the provision of God for those that are his. And the two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me saying, what are these, my Lord? And the angel that talked with me answered and said, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord. And he answered and spake to me saying, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Now he was the governor. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. You're not going to win this, Joshua the high priest, with might. You're not going to win this battle with human ingenuity. You're not going to win it with any amount of your own energy. You're going to win this battle by the spirit of the Lord. You're going to win it because God has chosen to make you the temple of his glory and his dwelling. And the Lord says, what I've begun in you, I'm going to finish it. I'm going to finish the work. And he's witness to that in the New Testament. Verse seven, he says, who art thou, O great mountain? Who art thou? These obstacles as it is, that the enemy has placed at this time. Of course, this great mountain is all of this opposition coming against God being glorified in the rebuilding of this temple. Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain. God said, no, I'm not going to make you just passable. I'm going to take you completely out of the way. Why do you think Jesus said, I am God. Whoever shall send to this mountain, be thou removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt, but believe in his heart that what he has said shall happen. You shall have whatever he says. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain. And I know that there are many here today who are standing before the throne of God and you are speechless and you are only aware of your failing. Hear me clearly on this. The problem you see that you face is you're not aware of who you are in Christ. And the enemy has put a mountain in front of you. And the mountain is just a mirror. That's all it is. It's a mirror where you don't see Christ. All you see is your own reflection. And you think that's the way God sees you. And he doesn't see you that way. He sees you and receives you as the righteousness of Christ. And he says, before Zerubbabel, before those I've called to rebuild this temple, you will become a plain and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying grace, grace unto it. Amazing. He will be built on a foundation where God knows everything. But I will take away his iniquity and I will give him a newness of life. I'll give him new raiment. And when it's all over, I hope, I hope with all my heart that when I go to heaven that I have to pass... I hope that Satan is forced to stand there and watch the parade. The accuser who accused you, most of your Christian life, and accused me, is going to have to stand there as we parade by the hundreds of thousands, the weak and the lame and the former maimed and the nobodies and the nothings. All brands plucked out of the fire and we walk by him and we stop each of us, look in his face and say, grace, grace, grace, grace. God rebuked you. Grace finished the work. Satan and grace finished it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, give him praise. Give him praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. It's time, folks. It's time. It's time to get out of your position of speechlessness and just stand up and shout grace. It began by grace. It's going to finish by grace. God saved me and God's going to keep me and God's going to carry me and God's going to take me home and by grace Jesus Christ will be glorified in this earthen vessel. By grace, by grace, by grace. And get it in your gut. One day you're going to stand at the throne of God, look the devil himself in the face and shout grace in his face. Grace, grace brought me home. Grace changed my life. Hallelujah. Grace. That means unmerited favor. I haven't earned it. It's been given to me. I believed and God was faithful to give me what I believed for. Grace, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. He says in verse 10, Who has despised the day of small things? You see, we can get to a point of feeling so small that we begin to despise our smallness. We begin to despise our own Christianity. We despise the work of God within us. But the Lord asked the question through the prophet, Who has despised the day of small things? You see, the enemy would have us focus on our littleness so that we lose sight of the vastness of our Savior, the greatness of our God, this incredible carrying power of the one who chooses of his own free will not to see us the way Satan sees us and the way we see ourselves. He sees us as clean. He sees us as the righteousness of his own Son. He is committed to empower us because he's interwoven his name and the honor of his name with our name. He said, I've interwoven myself with you. And it's my honor to bring you home. You have to understand that. It's my honor, God says, to change you. It's my honor to be glorified through you. All I ask you to do is believe me. Just believe me and begin to walk in this grace. Joshua, it's not about you and it's not about your zeal and it's not about your human effort. It's about something that I chose to do through you before you were even born. All you are required to do is believe and choose in your heart to be honest before me and to be upright before me. Make a choice that you're going to walk my way, but I provide the strength to do the walking. We become very small. And the Lord began to show me something in this. This sense of littleness, this feeling of failure is not something that the casual Christian will experience. The casual Christian, by that I mean just the light seeker of God does the one hour thing on Sunday morning, doesn't really want to be a temple that glorifies God, will probably never go through this experience. No, this is an experience for those who are getting closer to God. It's reserved for those who are getting closer to God and whom God has destined to be a vessel through whom he will be glorified. John the Baptist knew this theologically. He said, God must decrease and he must increase. So this smallness is a process that God will initiate. When we finally stand there and if we had any boasting, it's gone. If we had any feeling of being better than other people, it's gone. If we had any sense of accomplishment, it's gone. And the only one winning the battle at that moment is the accuser. Until God speaks and says, no, this is an ordained moment. Because Joshua is now going to have a revelation of who I am. You see, Satan already knows this. And he does everything in his power to keep this veiled. And when the Lord begins to speak, there's nothing he can do but stand back. And with great dismay, no, one more time, another vessel is going to come through with the knowledge of grace. Somebody is going to rise up and say, God, build this temple. Build it in your strength, build it by your spirit, build it your way. Be glorified in it. Come, be glorified in it and be glorified through it. And this littleness can only mean that Christ intends to increase his life within me. That's the part that you need revelation to hear. Because the kingdom of God is so other than the way we think. I want to say it again. My own sense of littleness can only mean that God has drawn me into his presence. And he intends to increase the measure of his life within me. If he didn't produce this sense of littleness, I would bring with his life all of my ideas into the kingdom of God. And there would be a strange mixture of human reasoning and the spirit of God. But the Lord says, no, I've got to take away all the human reasoning. And I've got to teach you now that it's not by might or by power. It's by my spirit. Your gospel will be in a demonstration of the power of God, not of human reasoning. But the power that's demonstrated is not an exterior power. It will be an interior working of my life within you. And then I love the part that says, put a fair miter back on his head. See, the enemy had succeeded in knocking the crown of his priesthood off of his head. And I believe there are many here today. That's exactly where you live right now. The enemy has come in, convinced you of your smallness and said you're not worthy. And he's batted as it is this crowning that you were called to be a priest unto the Lord and a king. And the Lord says, put it back on his head. It's really time to allow Christ to put the victorious crown of his priesthood back on your head. He's chosen to do it. Folks, we've not earned it. We'll never deserve it. And we'll never measure up to it. But he's chosen. To call us priests and kings and co-laborers with him in the kingdom of heaven. And it's time that by faith we just simply accept that position and say, Lord, I put the crown back on my head. It must have been hard for Joshua. Just like the prodigal son when all of a sudden the father is putting a ring on his hand and clothes on his back and shoes on his feet. Striking up the band as it is in the house. So hard for us because we somehow feel that we've got to do something. If you want to do anything this morning, let him put the crown of his victory. It's his crown that he puts back on your head. Hallelujah. It's his victory. Will you stand and say, I rebuke you, Satan. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Would you stand please with me? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If the Lord spoken to your heart today and you're among those just say, I just need this crown. I've allowed the enemy to knock the crown of Christ off of my head. This fair miter of the priesthood he's called me to. If God's spoken to your heart, would you please join me here at this altar? Slip out of wherever you are. Balcony. You can go to either aisle. Exit rather and make your way down here. Main sanctuary. Just slip out unashamedly wherever you are. And I'm going to pray that you'll experience revival before 12 o'clock today. It's quarter to. And before 12 o'clock you'll be revived. No longer discouraged. But understanding that God's had you in his hand the whole time. Hallelujah. Lord, I just love your grace. I thank you, God. With all my heart. Oh, God. Oh, Jesus. May I have the privilege of inviting you today to be glorified in your church. Oh, God. We know it's all about you. It's all through you, Lord. It's all you. We have nothing to do but just speak your name and lift our hands and believe your promises. Lord, God, we're not worthy. But you are. And, Lord, we declare you worthy. We declare your sacrifice to be complete. We declare today that what you did was sufficient for us. We believe it, Jesus. I believe it with all my heart. God, if anything, it makes us want to draw into your throne. It makes us want to walk in heavenly places. It makes us want to be that temple that so brings honor and glory to your name. Oh, Jesus, be glorified. Almighty God, be glorified in this temple. Be glorified, O God, among your people. Hallelujah, Lamb of God. We thank you for it. God, we give you praise. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, God the Father. Thank you, Lord, for this great redemption. Thank you for this great salvation. What a marvelous salvation we live. Hallelujah. Satan, we say to you today, Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! The grace of God! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. Thank you for giving us hope and help. Thank you for lifting us up, O God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Just shout, Grace! Just shout, Grace! Hallelujah! Mighty God! Mighty Savior! Grace! Grace! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm saved by grace! I walk by grace! I'm finished by grace! Oh, give God glory! Give God glory! This is the conclusion of the message.